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Philosophy of consolation : the Epicurean tetrapharmakos

Bjarnason, Paul E. (Paul Elwin) (2004-03)

Thesis (MPhil)--Stellenbosch University, 2004.

Thesis

ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Epicureanism, one of several major Hellenistic philosophical schools, complemented
its materialist, non-teleological ontology with a set of spiritual exercises (askesis) intended to
prepare its disciples to live a happy life within a clearly defmed moral context. The emblem
of Epicurean ethics was the tetrapharmakos, or fourfold remedy, consisting in the dictum:
Nothing to fear in god; Nothing to feel in death; Good is easy to attain; Evil is easy to
endure. A question that arises concerns how the tetrapharmakos, in conjunction with the wide
variety of spiritual exercises which flowed from it, was capable of offering to Epicurean
disciples consolatio in the face of life's uncertainties and guiding them to the supreme
pleasure of the gods, tranquillity (ataraxia), which, together with absence of bodily pain
(aponia), brings to man the flourishing life (eudaimonia). Yet, afortiori, how is it possible,
in the absence of belief in divine providence, to retain a sense of equanimity throughout a
finite life in an often harsh world? How can one avoid capitulating to despair and anxiety?
Such questions are relevant to the ancient Epicureans, and are central to this thesis.
Epicurean materialism is presupposed throughout the thesis, and the arguments and
exercises which emerged from the Epicurean materialist ontology are examined critically in
order to assess the coherence and effectiveness of the Epicurean mode of living. An
examination of the role of Epicurean spiritual exercises is therefore undertaken, in order to
reveal the Epicureans' relationship with the natural and social worlds, as well as with each
other and with the gods, and thus to explain how these exercises were capable of providing
consolation, and further, to consider whether such exercises, in some form or other, are still
able to do soin the twenty-fust century.
The ancient conception of philosophy as a way of life is discussed fully, most
particularly the specific nature of Epicurean philosophy in this respect. The four strands or
remedies of the tetrapharmakos are then examined, in order, at length. The nature of
Epicurean gods and their relation to man are given detailed consideration, as are the
arguments and exercises used by Epicureans to dispel fear of the gods. A similar treatment is
accorded the Epicurean view of death as a natural dissolution of man qua material being, and
to the arguments and exercises aimed at overcoming fear of death, the second of the two great
causes of human anxiety. Epicurean hedonism, within which pleasure assumes the role of
man's goal,· or telos, is examined thoroughly, as are major issues of contention -- in
particular, the Epicurean bifurcation of the telos into katastematie pleasure and kinetic
pleasure, and the relation between these two kinds of pleasure. A concluding chapter
summarises the fmdings of the thesis and suggests the relevance of Epicureanism and its
associated spiritual exercises for citizens of the twenty-fust century.